Mayslake Is Seeking Rich Guardian Angel

Groups Still Unable To Raise Enough Cash To Reopen The Estate

April 13, 1997|By Lynn Van Matre, Tribune Staff Writer.

Millionaire coal mogul Francis S. Peabody's vintage Oak Brook estate was big, beautiful and in danger of falling prey to developers when DuPage County voters saved it via a $17.5 million referendum in 1992. Two years later, the 90-acre estate, known as Mayslake, was placed on the National Register of Historic Places.

But nearly five years after the referendum allowed the DuPage County Forest Preserve District to acquire the land and buildings, Peabody's Tudor Revival mansion, complete with hand-carved marble fireplaces and a secret staircase, remains closed to the public. So does the nearby St. Paschal Friary, hand-built by Franciscan friars who purchased the estate shortly after Peabody's death in 1922.

There's no dearth of dazzling plans for the historic estate. Members of the nonprofit Mayslake Landmark Conservancy want to turn the 39-room mansion, which was designed by Chicago architect Benjamin Henry Marshall, into a national tourist attraction and ecology center. Members of Atelier International, a nonprofit arts group, envision turning the Paschal Friary into an arts education center with artists and dancers in residence.

Both groups point with pride to what they have accomplished so far. The friary, built along the lines of a European castle, is spic and span; a fundraising video may be filmed on site soon, and several arts institutions have expressed interest in holding classes there.

The Portiuncula Chapel on the Mayslake grounds has been beautifully refurbished and re-opened; a sophisticated security system has been installed in the Peabody mansion; and a nonprofit professional theater company, First Folio Shakespeare Festival, recently announced plans to present "The Tempest" for four weeks on an outdoor stage at the site this summer.

So far, however, neither volunteer group has been able to raise enough cash to bring the buildings into compliance with county building codes and allow for public access.

"The friary building is 98 percent ready to go; we could open immediately if we had a sprinkler system," said Atelier International spokeswoman Kaaren Oldfield. "All we need now is a guardian angel."

Make that a guardian angel with deep pockets. According to Oldfield, the necessary sprinkler system for the friary will cost $300,000. Meanwhile, Audrey L. Muschler, Mayslake Landmark Conservancy's co-executive director, said that the conservancy must raise an additional $320,000 to bring the Peabody mansion into full compliance with ADA and safety codes. The group already has raised and spent approximately $160,000 on improvements, code compliance work, landscaping and routine maintenance, Muschler said.

Without paid admissions and rental opportunities, the organizations are unable to generate revenues for further restoration efforts and programs and are unable to secure commitments from potential tenants.

"What the groups are trying to do is excellent, but it's kind of a chicken-and-egg situation," said DuPage County Forest Preserve District Commissioner Michael R. Formento.

According to Muschler and Oldfield, several charitable foundations have shown interest in funding programming and restoration projects at the mansion and friary, but few if any philanthropic groups are willing to donate big bucks to remedy code violations.

"(Potential donors) have told us that they think the forest preserve should pay for bringing the mansion up to code," Muschler said.

Formento said that while the 1992 referendum covered only the $17.5 million purchase price and included no funds for maintenance, there was a possibility that the Mayslake projects could benefit from passage of a version of a proposed $75 million forest preserve land acquisition and development referendum proposal that conservationists are attempting to get on the November ballot.

Formento has advocated a referendum proposal that would allot $10 million for each of the county's six districts, to be used as district commissioners saw fit (subject to approval by the full Forest Preserve Commission). The remaining $15 million would be earmarked for general countywide use.

"If the commissioners from District 3 (which includes Oak Brook) chose to use some of the district's $10 million allotment for Mayslake renovation, I would support that as an appropriate use of the money," Formento said.

Both Atelier International and the Mayslake Landmark Conservancy have family-oriented fundraisers in the works.

Specific plans and dates for Atelier events, which may include a festival with madrigal singers on the friary grounds, have yet to be firmed up, Oldfield said. Mayslake volunteers kick off their spring and summer fundraising April 25 with a theatrical presentation at the Lodge on McDonald's Corporate Campus in Oak Brook.